Learning to Cope
by Adribug354
Summary: Clary hears loud noises and crashes coming from the Training room...what is going on in there?


Clary walked down the halls of the Institute, and suddenly heard sounds of crashing and yelling coming from the training room. Picking up her pace, she came to the door right as Alec walked out.

He was wearing typical training gear, and had a towel in his hand, hand drying the dark tendrils of his hair. His expression looked solemn, and irritated. He glanced at Clary as she approached. "I wouldn't go in there if you wanted all of your limbs to remain attached to your body. He is in a mood today."

Clary rolled her eyes. "As if Jace and his constant mood swings scare me."

Alec laughed. "True, if anyone can handle him it seems to be you. But, I'm warning you, something has really gotten under his skin today. I'm not sure what it is. He's been like this all day, like he's itching for a real fight. I think he was baiting me in there, trying to get me to actually fight with him, and not just train."

"How was he baiting you?" Clary asked.

"Just talking about Magnus, saying..." Alec's face became red with what Clary assumed was embarrassment. "Saying that I was a coward for not telling people about our relationship sooner." Alec draped the now-damp towel around his shoulders. "He acted as if he was joking, but he got in some pretty nasty zingers before I just decided to leave him to his hissy fit".

"Probably the best thing," Clary laughed. "Go take a shower, I'll check on him and see if I can figure out what's up."

"Thanks...and good luck." Alec walked off, and Clary slowly opened the door to the training room.

Inside was decorated much like Clary would have imagined a boxer's training room, only with targets. There were weights in one corner, a sparring mat in another. One wall was decorated with targets, on which Jace had drawn horns and teeth. In the last area were a series of punching bags. This was where Clary saw Jace.

He, too, was wearing the typical black training gear. From her position in the doorway, Clary could see the sweat clinging to his skin and hair. The sweat caused his golden hair to curl even more around the nape of his neck. His clothes, too, clung to his body and she saw the outline of his lean muscles under the black shirt.

He was obviously working off some sort of frustration, as his face was worked into a snarl as his fists pounded the large bag in front of him. Clary walked the perimeter of the room, before coming to stand to the side of the bag.

"Want me to hold that for you?"

Jace quickly looked up, startled. Quickly, he regained composure. "Good thing you didn't come closer, I would have hated having to explain how I knocked my girlfriend to the floor." He walked around the punching bag and reset the straps on the wrappings around his knuckles.

"How about you explain why you were so mean to Alec instead?"

"Alec was just being sensitive. Anytime I mention Magnus he goes into a snit", Jace punctuated each word with a punch, ending his sentence with a well-timed kick. Clary felt the blow as she held onto the bag.

Clary rolled her eyes. "Because obviously you are the picture of mental health. You're beating that bag as if it was Val-..." she trailed off before saying the name that now hung in the air between them.

At the slip, Jace quit punching and caught the bag mid-swing. Holding it between himself and Clary he glared at her.

"Is that it? Are you still obsessing over the whole Valentine situation? I was there too, Jace, and I'm handling this better than you are." Her voice softened, "you have to let this go. It's not healthy."

With a violent swing, Jace stalked away to face one of the walls of the training room. He put his hands against the cool surface of the wall. Clary went to him and reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, surprised that he didn't shake it off.

After a few moments of silence, Jace spoke quietly. "It's not what you think, Clary. I mean, yes, it does have to do with Valentine, but it's not about that night. I don't obsess over Valentine's death, even if I did think he was my father for most of my life. I don't think about the fight with Sebastian, it had to be done." He slowly turned around to face her. "When I think about those weeks, and how you and I had been manipulated and used as pawns. How we went for so long fighting the pull between us, how I hated myself for how I felt about you..." his voice trailed off. "I just get so _frustrated_ and..._angry. _Think, Clary, think of how much time we missed being together. How much heartache we caused ourselves...it just wasn't FAIR!" Jace shouted the last word and stalked away a few feet.

Clary spoke, "You know, sometimes I forget that you're a teenager just like me. Aren't we supposed to think the whole world revolves around us and that life just isn't fair? Jace, we aren't the only ones who suffered at the hands of Valentine. In fact, you and I, we got off pretty easy. Think of my mother, on the run for years, unable to live as the Shadowhunter she is. Think of all the families in Idris who mourned the loss of loved ones. Think of the Lightwoods, losing their youngest son."

"Max was my brother too!" Jace exclaimed.

"Yes, he was, in all the ways that matter. But, you aren't up here beating the crap out of a punching bag about that, are you?" She sighed, "The point is, yes, we missed a while with each other, but we're together _now. _I love you, Jace, and I get to be with you every day, and hold your hand, and kiss you, and...other things," she said with a sly smile. "Why can't we just be happy now, and move past what we've lost?"

As she spoke, Clary moved closer to Jace, eventually winding her arms around his neck. His face was still resolutely looking at any direction other than hers, but she used her hand to force him to look at her. "I love you, you dolt."

Finally, Jace shifted his eyes to look at her face. "I love you too, Clary, you know that. That's why I get so upset."

"Well, getting upset will do you no good. But, I guess you wouldn't be the boy I fell for if you weren't so hot-tempered and insane."

"Insane?!" Jace sputtered. "Woman, most of the time I think I'm the only sane one around here."

"Yes, well, you just keep thinking that." Clary smirked. "Come on, I think we need to get out of here. And you need to take a shower, you smell," she wrinkled up her nose as she spoke.

"Smell! This is the scent of a manly man" Jace puffed up his chest.

"Come on, then, Manly Man. If you're nice, maybe I'll help you." Another smirk, and Clary led the way out of the training room.


End file.
